Double Vision
by Special Agent Don Eppes
Summary: He approached the SUV with his gun drawn and spotted what he was looking for. Speaking not too loudly so as not to scare his new partner, he asked, Agent Eppes, need some backup?  CHAPTER 3 UP  COMPLETED!
1. Introduction

My first ever attempt at writing one of these...be gentle!

Disclaimer: Apparently, we have to put one of these in with every fanfic? I don't own the characters, no intent for profit, yada yada yada

Summary: The agent tried not to snicker as he ran up behind the SUV, but knew this was no laughing matter. He approached the vehicle from behind with his gun drawn and spotted what he was looking for. Speaking not too loudly so as not to scare his new partner, he asked "Agent Eppes, need some backup?"

Double Vision

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"Charlie, I don't think this is such a good idea.." Don started to say as he navigated his FBI Suburban through LA traffic.

Charlie waved his hand "No Don. It's perfectly fine. Your whole team is already there, right? You might need me for something. Besides, the bad guys are gone already."

"Yeah Charlie, a sizeable portion of the FBI Office is there, plus LAPD, but it's crime scene. Not to mention the fact that this particular crime scene happens to be one of the most secure banks in Los Angeles. They're still trying to figure out what was taken, and I'm not sure if the manager will want a math professor hanging around. He's got enough cops scaring his clients to worry about." Don countered. They were about 10 minutes out, no lights or sirens. The rest of Don's team was already there, and the robbers gone for hours, so there was no need.

"How about if I wear an FBI vest? They won't say anything then! Plus, its a crime scene right? I gotta be safe!" Charlie requested with a certain excitement in his voice.

Don blinked his eyes, comprehending what his brother was asking. "WHAT?! Charlie, I can't let you wear an FBI vest at a crime scene! You know how many rules that would break?" Well actually, Don was lying, sort of. Charlie had worn an FBI vest before, and it wasn't like he was asking for a sidearm along with it. He was just searching for a reason to not take Charlie along, even though they were already en route. The FBI agents already onsite knew Charlie, and noone would mind if he wore a vest. Charlie wasn't exactly a civilian, and David had mentioned at least once that it would be pretty cool to see Charlie as an agent. Merrick was walking by at the time he said it, and had said "Don't get your hopes up, Agent Sinclair. While I wouldn't mind having Charlie with us, one Agent Eppes is enough for me!" glaring at Don. Don snapped back to reality as a car turned in front of him, causing him to hit the brakes. Don memorized the plate number out of habit, but knew that it was just another LA driver, and you couldn't do anything about it.

Charlie said "Aw come on, Don! I'm not asking for a gun!" Don considered it. Charlie was right after all, the vest would keep him safe if anything were to happen. Not that anything was going to happen, but given the fact that certain things happened to you when you least expected it, Don gave in.

"Alright alright, you can wear an FBI vest. But Charlie, why the eagerness? You've worn these things before" Don wondered.

Charlie also gave in. "Well, I'm kind of working on a behavioral analysis involving law enforement officers at a crime scene for my class next week. It's one of those math courses where I have to take the 'Math for Dummies' approach...and I was wondering if I could wear the handcuffs too..."

Don smiled at first as Charlie spoke, trying to picture 'Charlie the FBI Agent' investigating a bank robbery, then said "Don't push it, Charlie!" Then added "we'll see..." trying to tease his brother and watched Charlie's face light up with satisfaction, like the time he had asked to play with Don's new toy car when they were kids...and then broken it. Don carefully added, "I'm not giving you a gun though! I still miss my toy car!" and grinned playfully at Charlie.

"Don, it was an accident!" Charlie started to say, then stopped, not wanting to go further.

Don laughed lightly then spotted a coffee shop up ahead, "Hey since we aren't in a rush, you want some coffee?"

Charlie smiled, "Sure. It'll give me a chance to put on the gear too!"

Don rolled his eyes, reversing the SUV into a spot and stepping out into the parking lot. Charlie followed him to the back of the SUV where Don retrieved a vest and some cuffs. Charlie took off his nylon jacket and put them on. Don was already wearing an FBI vest under his dark jacket, and looked at his brother, smiling. "I think I'm seeing double!"

"Well, we don't have the same jacket..."

"Don't start with me, Charlie!" as he went inside the coffee shop, leaving his brother with the Suburban.

Charlie was just closing the trunk when he happened to look across the parking lot, and his eyes went wide.

_To Be Continued..._


	2. FBI, Freeze!

Ok, so I decided to continue today...

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Charlie was just closing the trunk when he happened to look across the parking lot, and his eyes went wide. There, across the parking lot, were two men he had seen exit a van parked down the street a few minutes ago. They looked like the type you wouldn't want to mess with.

The two men spotted a small child who was several feet away from her mother. The mother's back was turned, and the young woman was engaged in conversation on her cell phone. One of them leaned down in front of the child while the other stood some distance away, looking around. Charlie just knew that they were about to grab this little girl and take her away in that van. At first he had wondered why the van wasn't closer, but as the men approached the parking lot, he figured out that they didn't want to be seen by the shop's cameras.

Charlie looked around and saw noone else in the parking lot, only empty vehicles. He wanted to call out to the child's mother, but there were two of them, and there was the possibility that they were armed. The man was now talking to the child, probably throwing her a line like "I've lost my puppy in this parking lot, can you help me?". Neither him nor his lookout had seen Charlie or the dark Suburban. Charlie looked towards the shop and saw his brother inside waiting in line, but his back was turned. Don couldn't possibly run out here in time!

Suddenly, the man grabbed the child around the waist and picked her up, starting to run with his mate towards the van. The young girl screamed, causing the mother to turn around and discover that her daughter was being kidnapped. She screamed as well, "Oh my god, Sarah!! HELP! Please someone help! My daughter's been kidnapped!!"

Charlie whirled around, having been trying to get Don's attention, to no avail. Charlie made a choice. He grabbed a spare Glock from the back of the SUV, holstered it, and jumped into the drivers seat. He figured the SUV driving off would alert Don to what was happening. "Don is going to kill me!" Charlie thought.

Charlie started the SUV, getting the distraught mother's attention. She started to scream something at him and move her hands in the direction of the kidnappers, but stopped and almost breathed a sigh of relief at seeing a law enforcement officer as Charlie sped off after the kidnappers after activating the FBI Suburban's lights and sirens.

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Don was waiting in line inside the coffee shop, and looked at his watch. The lady operating the counter was very slow, and seemed to be the only one there. Suddenly, he heard what sounded like a faint cry for help, but that was nothing compared to the sudden burst of light and sound that flooded his senses. He whirled around just in time to see his FBI Suburban speed towards the exit, the lights flashing and siren on full blast. Don didn't know what to think.

"CHARLIE!!!!!" he yelled as he ran out the front door, almost running into some teenagers coming inside at the same time. They didn't know who this 'Charlie' was, but figured he had something to do with that unmarked SUV speeding away, and they put two and two together as they saw Don's FBI vest under his jacket.

Don ran after the SUV, and was glad for the earpiece he already had on as he saw Charlie stop the SUV and jump out.

"3695 to Control! Unknown trouble at the coffee shop on Western, only 5 minutes from the Pacific Bank! Requesting immediate backup, Code 3!"

The dispatcher, calm in contrast, replied "10-4, 3695. Agent Reeves and your team en route with LAPD."

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Charlie got the attention of the kidnappers, who saw the SUV speeding up behind them and stopped, staring. The man who grabbed the young child glared at his partner as if to say "You idiot! Didn't you see him?!!"

Charlie jumped out of the SUV as unknown to him, the mother of the child was running up behind, with Don fast approaching as well. Luckily, the woman knew to stay back and let the cop do his job.

Charlie drew his new weapon and tried to muster up the best 'Don' voice he could. He didn't want to do this, and would have loved to have Don with him, but had no choice. As he tried to speak, he would've even settled for a 'David' or a 'Colby' voice if not sounding like Don, but he managed a yell, with a certain element of squeal.

"F-F-FBI, Freeze!!!"

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To be continued...


	3. Agent Fleinhardt

Author Notes: Chapter 3 now...it'll be over by the end of this (very long) chapter.

Sorry about not giving the coffee shop name and making up the "Western Blvd" street...I don't know anything about LA

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Charlie drew his new weapon and tried to muster up the best 'Don' voice he could. He didn't want to do this, and would have loved to have Don with him, but had no choice. As he tried to speak, he would've even settled for a 'David' or a 'Colby' voice if not sounding like Don, but he managed a yell, with a certain element of squeal.

"F-F-FBI, Freeze!!!"

Charlie was ducked behind the driver's door of Don's SUV, just like he had seen in the movies. He hadn't been with the FBI on anything like this, so he had to wing it. The fact that he had never fired a gun before (aside from the FBI range) didn't help.

The men were obviously surprised at the agent's quick response, and baffled as to how they didn't see him. Traffic on the street started to slow down as motorists tried to see what was going on as they drove by, seeing the Suburban's flashing lights. When they saw the man in the FBI vest holding a gun however, they took off pretty quickly. Some called 911 just in case the agent hadn't called for backup, but the dispatchers told them units from both the FBI and LAPD were already on the way.

Charlie looked at the kidnapper who had been the lookout. He was wearing a denim jacket, a black tshirt, and jeans. Charlie noted he was about 6 feet tall, but thin. He had his hands halfway up and looked scared. The man holding the child was surprised at the cop having caught them red handed, but he wasn't ready to give up easily. While holding the child, Charlie thought her mother called her Sarah, he reached into his jacket and pulled out a pistol. 'Uh-oh..'

"Back off, Fed! Come any closer and she dies!"

Charlie mustered up courage and tried to remember everything Megan did when negotiating with a suspect. "Come on, man. There's no getting out of this. Drop the gun. There's no need for anyone to get hurt."

The kidnapper sneered. He looked to be in his late 30's, and was dressed somewhat well. No wonder the girl didn't walk away when he talked to her. He looked like the type of guy who wasn't afraid to go to jail. "I got a better idea, Fed. How about YOU drop your gun, or else I blow her brains out?!"

Sarah's mother, hiding behind the agent's vehicle, heard this and barely avoided screaming. She had watched some action movies, and knew that by putting herself in there, she would only complicate things for the agent. She decided to start to sneak away and call 911, figuring the agent could never have had enough time to call for backup judging by how quick he chased after them. She turned around and started to walk quietly towards the coffee shop, when she spotted another man, who looked a bit older and much more built than the agent running towards her..or it could be the agent and bad guys behind her. This man was also wearing an FBI vest, and had pulled out a gun as well. He spotted her and put a finger to his mouth, then waved her over.

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Megan had just finished talking to the manager of the Pacific Bank when her earpiece came alive.

"Control to Agent Reeves."

"Reeves to Control, go ahead"

"Agent Eppes has requested immediate backup at the coffee shop on Western Blvd, 5 miles East of your location. Unknown trouble. Agent requested backup respond Code 3."

Megan had no idea what was going on, but knew if Don had asked for a 'lights-and-sirens' response, it was bad.

"10-4. Show us en route." She ran outside to where David and Colby were talking to Lt. Gary Walker of the LAPD

"David! Colby! Don needs our help! Control says unknown trouble, coffee shop on Western. That's all I know. Don requested a Code 3 response. That means MOVE! NOW!!!"

Agents Sinclair and Granger didn't need anymore encouragement. They ran over to their FBI Charger. As David got into the driver's seat, he called over to another Agent.  
"Liz! Don's in trouble! Ride with Megan!"

Megan got into her FBI sedan as Liz Warner joined her. Lt. Walker came over to the window. "Reeves, we're lucky its close by from here. I'll get my units over there ASAP."

"Thanks, Gary." Megan sped off with the lights and sirens going with David and Colby right behind. Gary watched them go and keyed his radio.

"Dispatch, this is Lt. Walker. Deploy all available units Code 3 to the coffee shop at Western and Main. An FBI Agent has called for assistance, his team is en route."

"10-4, Lieutenant. We've received the call from FBI Control, units are on the way."

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Don spotted a young woman behind his SUV, crying and hysterical. He tried to peer around the vehicle and saw Charlie pointing a gun at two guys holding a young girl, who he assumed to be this woman's daughter. The woman ran over to him and could barely talk.

"You have to save my little girl! I just turned my back for a minute, I thought she was right next to me!"

Don interrupted her. "Alright Miss, calm down. I'm Don Eppes with the FBI. I've called my office, the police and more FBI agents are on the way, alright? I need you to go back to the coffee shop and stay inside until the police or I get there. I'm going to go help my uh...partner." The woman nodded and gave him another pleading look before running off.

The agent tried not to snicker as he ran up behind the SUV, but knew this was no laughing matter. Charlie was not a trained FBI Agent by any means, and he was baffled as to why Charlie didn't just run in and get him. "This'll be great for his lecture next week." He thought.

Don approached the vehicle from behind on the passenger side with his gun drawn and spotted who he was looking for. Speaking not too loudly so as not to scare his new partner, he paused and asked "Agent Eppes, need some backup?"

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Charlie was just about to continue talking down the man, or at least trying to when a voice filled the silence.

"Agent Eppes, need some backup?"

Charlie had never been so glad to see his big brother in his life. He had to reply his brother's question though, so as not to arouse suspicion with the kidnappers. He thought fast and said "Could sure use it, Agent..Fleinhardt."

Don had to stop himself from laughing. "FLIEINHARDT?!!!!!!!!" He thought to himself. Don then quickly realized that Charlie couldn't exactly say "Agent Eppes".

The man holding the gun laughed to keep his self-confidence up. "Oh, how lovely. We got TWO Feds in the party now!"

Charlie returned to the conversation with his authoritative voice. "Drop the gun."

"Not gonna happen, Curly!"

Don tried next. "You heard what he said. Come on, drop it. You got two armed FBI agents, and a partner who's scared out of his wits." He gestured to the man's partner, who had his hands up, although only half way.

Charlie tried a bluff "And we got more cops on the way. The longer you hold that child hostage, the more guns there are going to be pointed at you."

Don knew that Charlie would have had no way to call for backup, so he decided to confirm the bluff. "LAPD is on the way, with more FBI."

"You're lying! Now drop your guns before I shoot her!"

Charlie couldn't hold the gun up any longer, but he didn't want to put it down. He lowered it ever so slightly to ease the aching in his hands and smiled at the kidnapper. "Come on, man. Do you seriously expect to get out of this a free man? Let alone, ALIVE?" Charlie put emphasis on the last word.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"You're pointing a gun at a young child, and your partner has got his hands up." Seeing Don had a steady aim on the guy, Charlie aimed his weapon at the nervous one, and gestured with the gun. The man showed no hesitation and his hands were now behind his head. Charlie continued.

"See that? You even try to shoot that girl, my partner will blow YOUR brains out." Charlie could hear sirens in the distance.

"And more police are only seconds away. Think about it. What happens to the odds of your survival with each added police officer pointing a gun at you?"

By this time, two LAPD patrol cars had arrived and had blocked off the road in both directions. Two officers from each car joined them, nodding at the two men in the FBI vests.

Don decided to step in. "You heard him. We got 4 more guns. You got nothing. If you don't let that girl go right now, they'll have to scrape you off the pavement by the time we're done. If there's anything left of your---" Don stopped himself because of the young child.

"If there's anything left of you after it's all over, it'll be thrown in jail for a VERY long time." More sirens. A dark colored Charger with flashing lights pulled up, and Megan and Liz jumped out, guns drawn, already wearing their FBI gear. They both had to do shake their heads and look again, and exchanged glances at seeing Charlie wearing an FBI vest and holding a gun. Colby and David did the same, as they were right behind them.

Charlie pushed it all the way. "Come on, go ahead. What are the odds? Work the numbers."

The man shook his head. "I don't need to, Agent." He tossed the gun aside and let the girl go, who ran into Megan's waiting arms. The four LAPD officers reacted immediately, moving in to cuff the two of them. David helped cover them, then came over to join Colby and the others.

Colby stifled a laugh and said "I think I'm getting some double vision!", earning glares from both Don and Charlie.

Liz approached Charlie from behind and spoke softly. "Charlie, give me the gun." Charlie gladly gave it up and leaned on the SUV.

Don put his own Glock away. "Next order of business..." he thought, and stormed over to Charlie.

"WHAT IN THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!! Do you have ANY idea of how many laws you just broke? Huh? ANY idea of how much trouble you have gotten the BOTH of us into?!"

Charlie stammered. "D-D-D-Don, I,.."

"You WHAT?! You what, Charlie?"

"I was just wearing the vest and the cuffs, I swear. Then I saw the two guys spot the little girl. Her mother wasn't paying attention, I knew if I came in to get you, they'd get away!"

"Charlie, that's no excuse for what you did! We'd have lost a few seconds at most. You are not a trained FBI agent! You are not trained in firing a weapon! How'd you even get the gun anyway?"

"It was locked in the case with all the gear...you gave me the keys so I could try on the vest and the cuffs."

"So you just picked up a gun and holstered it. Do you know how to check the safety? It could have gone off and KILLED you, Charlie!"

Colby stepped in, having taken the gun from Liz after she showed him something. "Actually Don, that would not have been a problem."

"How so?"

"This gun isn't even loaded."

Don blinked a few times. "What?!"

"We keep them in the cars unloaded, right? Charlie here luckily didn't think to check the gun to see if it was loaded before holstering it."

"So he talked down this guy..."

"With a gun that wasn't even loaded."

Charlie's jaw dropped. "But I thought it was loaded!"

"Charlie, that makes it worse! What if I wasn't running behind you and you had to shoot to protect yourself, or even that little girl?"

Colby answered that. "Click-click-click. By then, its too late."

Megan had returned from returning the child to her mother. "Well either way it's bad, and on top of all this, Merrick is going to be pissed."

Don waved his hand. "I'll take care of him. It was my fault. I let him try on the gear and left him with the car, and the keys."

Charlie shook his head. "No Don, I've worn vests before. The gear is not the issue. I took the gun, and the car. It's my fault. I know Merrick too, I'll take responsibility."

David put an end to it. "Guys, lets just head back to the office and talk about this later. We'll all might be talking to Merrick anyway. And we got the bank thing too. We can brief Don and Charlie at the office."

All agreed and started to head back to the vehicles. Colby smirked and said "Although it was kinda cool seeing Agent Eppes Jr."

Don laughed and said "You know he called me Agent Fleinhardt when I ran up?"

Megan laughed hysterically. "Agent FLEINHARDT?!!"

Charlie shrugged. "Well he said 'Agent Eppes, you need some backup?' I couldn't call him the same thing, and Fleinhardt was the best I could think of."

Don was somewhat disapointed. "Well come on, Chuck. Couldn't you think of something better like..Agent Smith or something? Oooh, how about James Bond?"

Liz put an arm around Don and smirked. "Now THAT I like!"

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Don and the team were waiting outside Merrick's office. Charlie was inside, and was the first to explain the whole thing. Don was pacing, and was somewhat nervous.

Megan tried to calm him down. "Don, don't worry, he'll be fine."

"Megan, Charlie will be lucky if he doesn't lose his security clearance! And I'LL be lucky if I don't lose my life!"

Liz decided to try. "Come on Don, noone got hurt. And the little girl is fine. The mother was quite shocked when she found out that Charlie isn't really an FBI Agent. And on a sidenote, the mom's sister remarked that Charlie was good-looking enough to be a cop."

Colby's eyebrows went up. "Oh reallyyy?"

"Yeah, but I whispered to her that he had a girlfriend. She wasn't happy after I told her that though. I think she thought it was me."

Megan laughed. "She was looking at both of us suspiciously after that." More laughter. "I think Amita would love to hear the story too."

There was another loud outburst of laughter, but it wasn't from any of them.

Merrick came out of his office with Charlie, still recovering and trying not to laugh. "Oh god Dr. Eppes, that was hilarious. I don't think there'll be too much of a problem with this. Just don't do it again." Charlie smiled and said "You can count on it, Sir." Don's jaw was on the floor, and he was unable to stop blinking.

Merrick turned to Don before going into his office. "Oh, I expect a full report on this and the bank robbery, Agent FLEINHARDT!" Merrick retreated into his office, and laughed some more.

Colby and David sniggered as they walked back over to their desks. Megan and Liz took the hint too. None of them wanted to be around now. Liz smirked and said "Well, I got paperwork to take care of, Boss."

Megan tried not to laugh and said "Me too. See you around...Fleinhardt."

Don turned to Charlie. "You know we'll never live this down."

Charlie grinned from ear to ear. "What do you mean 'we'? I'm Agent Eppes, I got nothing to worry about." and walked to join David and Colby.

Don looked around at his team, who were all trying not to look back and laugh. He laughed softly at himself as he walked over to put a scare into Sinclair and Granger.

"What are you two laughing at?" He said in his boss voice.

"Uh, nothing Agent Fleinhardt."

"You know I control your paychecks."

"and Merrick controls yours." Colby and David said together.

Don smirked back at them and realized something. "Oh crap, Charlie we better tell Dad what happened!"

Charlie put his hands up "Oh no, I want NO PART of that!"

Don snickered as he unclipped his cell phone. He was going to get his revenge now. "Hey Dad, guess what happened today?"

Charlie hid behind Colby and David "this isn't going to be good...although the story will be amusing for my behavioral analysis class next week...did Don tell you I was wearing the vest for that class?"

Colby and David looked at him curiously before exchanging glances, then heard Alan's (very loud) reaction. Don held out the phone as he moved it away from his ear.

"He did WHAT????!?!?!?!?!!!!!!!!!"

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The End...


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